Work guide for sewing machines



March 23, 1937. E. v. TOLEN ET AL 2,074,572

WORK GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed March 18, 1953 3 Sheets-Sheet l jigg March 23, 1937.

E. V. TOLEN ET AL WORK GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 18, 1933 March 23, 1937.

E. V. TOLEN ET AL WORK GUIDE FOR SEWING MACHINES 5 Sheets-She'et "3 Filed March 18, 1935 Jdezzfiw; (5267i (1% Ze 12 Cwrie Z'Z Patented Mar. 23, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Ind., assignors to Reliance Manufacturing Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Application March 18,

4 Claims.

Our invention relates to work guides for sewing machines and especially one for carrying out the shirt construction and assembly method wherein the mating plies of the neck band are assembled together with the edge of the collar and the edge of the shirt body, respectively, inserted therebetween, preferably all in one 0peration and with a single continuous line of stitchmg.

One important object of our invention is to facilitate the attachment of the neck band to the collar and the body of the shirt in a single stitching operation. This single stitching operation is as distinguished from two operations which have heretofore resulted either from having to turn the work over between two operations and/or having the two operations performed by different operators in factory production. Such a single operation reduces the number of lines of 2 stitching required to afiix the band to the collar and the body.

Another object is a work guide whereby the edge of one piece of goods extending from one direction may be stitched to and between the edges of two other pieces extending from an opposite direction.

A further object is such a guide which may readily be brought into or out of operative position without unduly impeding the continuity of 5 the stitching operation by the operator.

A still further object is a work guide very proximate to the needle but permitting the movement of the usual presser foot, and also such a guide which will cooperate as an auxiliary guide such 3 as previously mentioned.

The foregoing, together with other objects, features and advantages of our invention areset forth in the following description of a specific embodiment thereof and illustrated in the accompanying drawings referred to, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan section of a sewing machine embodying our invention which may be considered as taken at an elevation but slightly above 45 the table surface of an industrial type sewing machine;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section of the sewing machine of Fig. 1 which may be considered as taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic vertical transverse detail section of the presser foot, needle and feed dog of the sewing machine taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal detail section taken on 55 the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 and looking upwardly at 1933, Serial No. 661,479 (Cl. 112153) the bottom of the table and showing the knee control for swinging the guide;

Fig. 5 is a plan section similar to Fig. 1 but showing a shirt at an intermediate step in the operation of stitching the two plies of the neck band to the body of the shirt;

Fig. 6 is a detail longitudinal section at the region of the needle, pusher foot and feed dog which may be considered as taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a section similar to Fig. 6 but taken on the line of Fig. 5 on a plane which includes a section thorugh the swingable guide;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 5 but showing the swingable guide thrown out of position, the body of the shirt thrown around to the right of the needle and the stitching carried to the point where the collar is to be attached;

Fig. 9 is a view similar to Fig. 8 but showing the collar in position and partly stitched to the neck band and the swingable guide thrown into operative position; and

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary view on an enlarged scale of the lower part of the neck band, collar and body shown in Fig. 9 but illustrating the line of stitching, which has been partly performed in Fig. 9, fully completed.

We shall describe first the structural features of our sewing machine-which may take the form of attachments and substitutions in the ordinary industrial sewing machine-and then its operation upon a shirt construction for which it is peculiarly adapted.

In the plan section of Fig. 1 we have shown the table 33 of the sewing machine with the standard for the head in section but the parts therein not shown, being well understood in the art. The head (not shown) reciprocably supports the usual needle 34 and presser foot 44. Immediately forwardly, that is towards the operator of the presser foot 44 there is a work guide 31 (Fig. 3) which in transverse section (Fig. 7) is formed at one end of a plate 38 which is bent into an omega-shaped cross section affording an upper right-facing shoulder 39 and a lower rightfacing shoulder 48 vertically between which there is a left-facing intermediate shoulder 4|. The shoulder 4| is offset laterally from the shoulders 39 and 46 by means of upper and lower webs 42 and 43 which, as will later be described and as illustrated in Fig. 7, provide the proper overlap for the edges of the pieces of the work.

As will be seen from Figs. 1 and 3, the guide '31 extends forwardly from a point adjacent the front end of the presser foot 44, but is not con- 7 nected thereto and does not rise and fall with the presser foot. The plate 38 which carries the guide 31 may be made considerably wider than the guide 31 so that it can be of considerable strength and still kept to a minimum thickness.

The plate 38 is pivoted at its left-hand endthe end remote from the guide 3'|-by a screw or, as shown, by a vertically journalled shaft 45 so that it may be swung out of the way to the full line position of Fig. 8 when not required. To use the operators fingers for this detail might involve her loosing her hold on the goods momentarily. The plate may be rigidly fixed to the shaft 45 and passed downwardly through the table and a journal 46 and carry a knee wing 41. This enables the operator to swing the plate 38 into and out of position by the knee. Whether the plate be swung by knee or by hand, a snap mechanism may be employed to hold the plate 38 in its operatively and non-operatively positions. Such a snap mechanism is shown in Fig. 4 where an arm 48 secured to the shaft 45 is yieldably held in either of two positions by a spring finger 49 engaging cam surfaces 48' at the end of the arm.

We also provide an auxiliary work guide which is even closer to the needle than is the guide 31. This auxiliary guide is incorporated in the throat plate 50 and the presser foot 44.. That on the throat plate 50 comprises a vertical rib 5| (Figs. 3 and 6) carried by the free end of a spring finger 52 which is retained by a screw on the underside of the forward edge of the throat plate 50. The feed dog 36 which as usual reciprocates both rearwardly and upwardly within a slot in the throat plate-itself carries an elongated slot upwardly through which the rib 5| extends. This arrangement permits the movement of the feed dog without imparting movement to the rib 5|. But since the rib 5| is spring mounted, it may be depressed to the level of the top face of the feed dog when the feed dog and the presser foot come together. That part of the auxiliary guide which is on the presser foot comprises a fin 53 extending horizontally forwardly from the upturned outer (left hand) toe of the presser foot 44. The fin 53 and the rib 5| form right-facing abutments.

We shall now describe the operation of our guides as employed in stitching the collar and the body to the neck band of a shirt in accordance with our previously mentioned copending application.

The neck band B comprises two similar plies, an outer ply BI and an inner ply B2. The plies have previously been cut to shape and their marginal edges 20 turned over and creased down. The two plies are assembled with their turnedin edges coming together, as shown in Fig. 5. The body assembly of the shirt, to which the neck band is sewn before it is sewn to the collar, comprises a yoke 3|! joined by shoulder seams 3| to the right and left side pieces SIR, and 3|L respectively, and a back piece 32 which may or may not be overlapped by the yoke to form a double thickness. The shirt as shown in the drawings is laid on the table of the sewing machine with the outer side down and the inner side up. This takes advantage of the tendency of the feed dog to overrun the lower plies of the goods, so that in the resulting garment the neck will be slightly larger on the outside than on the inside, affording a better fit.

In Fig. 5 the neck band is being sewn by the line of stitching 35 to the body assembly. The

stitching has started at the button end 19 of the neck band, the ends of the threads being indicated at 35. The band edge of the body assembly is inserted between the webs 42 and 43 of the guide 3? and the edge itself abuts the left facing shoulder 4|. The edge of the ply B2 rests on the web Q2 and abuts the right facing shoulder 39, while the edge of the lower ply Bl comes below the web 43 and abuts the right facing shoulder 40. The lateral offset of the shoulder 4| relative to the shoulders 39 and 40 determines the overlap of the body and band. The body edge of the neck band may carry marks 22 preferably embostures, at the points on the neck band where the shoulder seams 3| are to come. The embostures 22 and the similar embostures 2| on the collar edge of the band and the method of forming them are set forth in greater detail in our copending application Serial No. 661,- 478 filed March 18, 1933.

After the line of stitching 35 has been completed from the button end b of the neck band to the buttonhole end bh point of the band, the sewing machine is momentarily stopped, the guide 31 thrown from its dotted line position to the full line inoperative position of Fig. 8 and the entire body and neck assembly is swung clockwise about the needle as a pivot bringing the body to the-right and forwardly of the needle. The stitching is then continued as a line of stitching 35a from the buttonhole point of the band to the mark or embosture 2| which marks the place where the collar is to be inserted. During this short run of the stitching 35a. the guide 3'! need not be used. The reason for throwing it to its inoperative position is to avoid interference with swinging the shirt assembly around to the other side of the needle. Whether the guide 31 is used for the initial short run of the stitching 35a is optional. If it is not used, there still is an adequate guiding for the superposed edges of the two plies of the neck band, afforded by the auxiliary guide comprising the rib 5| and the fin 53. They form right abutments for the upper ply B2 and the lower ply Bl respectively. Inasmuch as the shoulders or abutments of the auxiliary guide are in alignment with the shoulders or abutments 39 and 4|] of the guide 31, when in operative position, a uniform spacing of the stitching from the edges of the neck band is maintained.

When the mark 2| for the insertion of the collar is reached by the stitching 3511, the guide 3! is swung back to its operative position, if it has not previously been returned, and the collar is set with its band edge between the two plies with the end of the collar at the mark 2|. The edge of the collar occupies the same position in the guide 31 as did the body assembly as illustrated in Fig. '7. The collar edges of the plies of the neck hand then occupy the same position as did the body edges of the plies in Fig. '7. The sewing machine is again started-the interruption at the point 2| may be only momentarily or with a skilled operator entirely eliminated-and the line of stitching 35a continued from the position of Fig. 8 through the intermediate position indicated in Fig. 9 to the opposite end of the collar which coincides with the second mark 2|. The last mark 2| on the band serves to aid the operator in determining that the stitching is progressing satisfactorily so that the end of the collar will come at the correct position on the band. From the mark 2| and the end of the collar, the line of stitching 36 is concluded by running to the point of the button end B of the band. The second line of stitching a-which is really a continuation of the first line 35--ends where the stitching 35 began. It is not necessary for the operator to swing the guide 31 to its inoperative position during the concluding reach of the stitching 35a after it has passed the end of the collar. In fact the guide 3! may be left in its operative position ready for the next attachment of a band to a body.

The auxiliary'guides afforded by the rib 5| and the fin 53 serve not only in the reaches of the line of stitching 35a beyond the ends of the collars at which times the guide 37 may not be in operative position, but it also serves as a more immediate guide, relative to the needle, while the guide 3! is being used. This continual and more immediate guide insures a more accurate and uniform spacing of the stitching 35 and 35a back from the edges of the band at all times.

We have thus provided a work guide for the sewing machine which is peculiarly well adapted to carry out the improved shirt assembly described, which insures accuracy of workmanship and which will greatly speed up production. We do not, however, contemplate that the users of our guides are confined to the specific shirt assembly described nor to the specific instance of a neck band. We also contemplate that many changes may be made in the apparatus we have shown without departing from the scope or spirit of our invention.

We claim:

1. The combination with a sewing machine having stitching apparatus, including a needle and a presser foot and feed mechanism for moving the work rearwardly, of a work guide comprising an omega-shaped guide forwardly of the needle and constructed and arranged to present upper and lower abutments spaced to the left of the needle in the line of travel of the work and facing to the right, and a left facing intermediate abutment between the upper and lower abutments and spaced to the right of the line of travel through the needle, the upper and lower abutments being constructed and arranged to receive and guide the left edges of superposed upper and lower plies of a neck band and the intermediate abutment being constructed and arranged to receive and guide the right edge of a fabric interposed between the plies in over-lapping relation therewith, and means for pivotally mounting the guide on the left of the line of travel through the needle, whereby the guide may be swung into and out of operative position, and knee operated means for swinging the guide;

2. In a sewing machine, the combination of a presser foot, forwardly extending bifurcations, a needle passing between the bifurcations, one of the bifurcations terminating in an upturned lower surface and the other having a vertical wall facing the one bifurcation opposite its upturned surface and constituting an edge guiding abutment for incoming work, a horizontally reciprocable work feed dog beneath the presser foot, and a fixedly mounted spring finger having a guide portion passing upwardly through the feed dog and presenting a lower abutment for incoming work and adapted to yield through the spring finger when pressed down by the presser foot.

3. The combination with a sewing machine having stitching apparatus, including a needle and a presser foot and feed mechanism for moving the work rearwardly, of a work guide comprising an omega shaped guide forwardly of the needle constructed and arranged to present upper and lower abutments spaced to the left of the needle in the line of travel of the work and facing to the right, and a left facing intermediate abutment between the upper and lower abutments and spaced to the right of the line of travel through the needle, the upper and lower abutments being constructed and arranged to receive and guide the left edges of the superposed upper and lower plies of a neck band, and the intermediate abutments being constructed and arranged to receive and guide the right edge of the fabric interposed between the plies in overlapping relation therewith, forwardly extending bifurcations on the presser foot extending on the right and left sides of the needle, a right facing abutment on the left bifurcation for engaging the left edge of the upper ply, and a table-carried upwardly projecting guide presenting an abutment beneath the presser foot and in vertical alignment with the abutment thereon and adapted to be engaged by the left edge of the lower ply, and resilient mounting for the table carried guide whereby it may be depressed by the depressing of the presser foot, said presser foot abutment and said table mounted guide cooperating with said first-mentioned work guide to guide the left edges of the upper and lower plies respectively as they are progressed backwardly of the first-mentioned guide and toward the region of the needle.

4. The combination with a sewing machine having a table and stitching apparatus, including a presser foot, a needle working through the pressure foot and a feed dog working beneath the presser foot, of a work guide comprising an omega-shaped guide forwardly of the needle constructed and arranged to present upper and lower abutments spaced to one side of the needle in the line of travel of the work and facing to the opposite side, and an intermediate abutment be tween the upper and lower abutments and facing the said one side but spaced to said opposite side of the line of travel through the needle, the upper and lower abutments being constructed and arranged to receive and guide the said one side edges of the superposed upper and lower plies of a neck band, and the intermediate abutments being constructed and arranged to receive and guide the said opposite side edge of the fabric interposed between the plies in overlapping relation therewith, forwardly extending bifurcations on the presser foot extending on both said sides of the needle, and an abutment on the said one side bifurcation and facing the said opposite side for engaging the said one side edge of the upper ply, and a table-carried upwardly projecting guide presenting an abutment beneath the presser foot and in vertical alignment with the abutment thereon and adapted to be engaged by the said one edge of the lower ply and a resilient mounting for the table-carried guide whereby it may be depressed by the depressing of the presser foot, said pressure foot abutment and said table mounted guide cooperating with said first mentioned work guide to guide the said one side edges of the upper and lower plies respectively, as the several plies are progressed backwardly from the first mentioned guide and toward the region of the needle.

- EARL V. TOLEN.

CHARLES B. HARBSTREIT. 

